I take sole responsibility for the decision to run in the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne. Denis of Cork's poor showing was not due to the jockey, Julien Leparoux, or my trainer, David Carroll. The disaster was my fault alone.

I have never made such a bad decision in horse racing as the one I made to take Denis of Cork to Hawthorne. After the race, Suzanne was devastated and I was in total shock. The race was a complete failure and has probably eliminated Denis from the Kentucky Derby.

In mapping out Denis' campaign, I made two very grave errors. First, I paid too much attention to the fact that the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes are three races over five weeks, and I wanted Denis of Cork to participate in all three races.

The five-week schedule is truly a demanding challenge for any three-year old. I worried over that possibility, and thus worked backward from the date of the Kentucky Derby to a race four weeks beforehand and the only two that came up were the Illinois Derby and the Wood Memorial. I did not want Denis of Cork to race this coming weekend because he would have had only three weeks rest before the Kentucky Derby. Hindsight shows we should have raced in The Rebel at Oaklawn.

Second, my research and analysis of the races at Hawthorne in late March showed that 50% of the races were won by horses coming from off the pace and 50% went wire to wire. Thus, I felt the racetrack would be fair to both types of horses.

However, the day of the race, it was evident that in the first six races, the horses that won went to the lead and stayed wire to wire. There was a definite speed bias, particularly along the rail. Simply stated, the Hawthorne racetrack was not a fair track. They never even watered the track between races which would have enabled Denis of Cork to gain traction. The track was cuppy and light, and definitely not suited for any horse coming off the pace. I compromised Denis of Cork's chances of winning by sending him to Hawthorne. He will not do well on a speed bias track.

Those that are invited to participate in the Kentucky Derby qualify by their earnings. At this point in time, I think it is very, very remote that Denis of Cork will be in the Kentucky Derby. I have pre-paid over $86,000 for 18 hotel rooms and transportation. I feel at this time I need to cut my losses and pare back reservations. Thus, I am cancelling everything except for the rooms for my family. Regretably, the best of plans have gone astray, and I herewith apologize to everyone who placed a bet on Denis of Cork. I'm sorry. The only thing we can do now is look forward to his future races where he has an opportunity to win.

The track was cuppy and light

What exposes the falsity of this notion is the fact that "cuppiness" is used only as a rationalization for defeat. No trainer in the history of the game has ever said, "My horse loves a cuppy track."

I incline towards Beyer on this one. He still should have shown more.

So much for the Toyota ( synthetic ) Blue Grass Stakes . Shouldn't even be a prep for the derby after this.

What numbers are these horses ?

Pyro was fractious in the gate and has nothing. This race will light up the toteboard with Manda winning, cowboy Cal second (both Todd Pletcher horses). Big Truck was laboring the whole race. Visionaire showed nothing.